A long-time cannabis paraphernalia retailer in Kingston has finally received a licence to sell cannabis Kingston. This means, when cannabis stores are allowed to reopen after the COVID-19 crisis, Kingston will have its third cannabis retailer.
“We are pretty happy. It’s the best day ever,” said Jennawae McLean, owner of Calyx and Trichomes, a head shop in Kingston’s west end. “This is, basically the worst time to celebrate anything, but it’s at least a little bit of sunshine on a super cloudy month,” she said, referring to the current novel coronavirus crisis.
McLean had originally moved her head shop to Midland Avenue from her location on Princess Street once she heard Canada would be legalizing cannabis, believing that her new west-end location would better suit the proposed regulations for cannabis retailers at the time.
She had planned to start selling cannabis in the west-end, but those plans were dashed when Ontario introduced a cannabis lottery system to dole out licences. She applied twice, and lost twice, with two larger companies, Spiritleaf and Fire and Flower, setting up downtown stores.
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After a long wait, McLean finally learned Friday from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO) that she would be able to sell cannabis in the city’s west-end.
Now that she has a licence, the AGCO says she must submit a request for a retail store authorization. IF her location fits the criteria, then she will be able to open.
Unfortunately, she’ll have to wait a bit longer to open her doors. Although cannabis stores were previously listed as essential businesses, as of Saturday, they will have to close their doors for two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Her shop is already closed for construction on an expansion. She told Global News she hopes to be up and running, and selling cannabis by April 20.
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